Wasn't I.M Pei (or his firm) going to design it?

How come they can't have a JC address? How could tens of millions of Americans get credit cards from Sioux Falls? At that time, I think that even Bank of New York moved their HQ to delaware.
For a city with such a transient population it's lame to bank exclusively in the far future. No wonder the citizens' turn over is so high.

Why does a company that had a $16b bonus pool need a tax abatement?

I hold Goldman stock, which has been underperfroming as of lat but I think it is preposterous that a company that makes as much money as Goldman is getting abatement's on both sides of the Hudson.

P.S. Goldman is very well positioned to make to continue to get advantageous treatment from local state and the federal government

Councilman; Fulop
Governor; Corzine
Us Dept of Treasury; Paulson
World Bank Pres; Zoellick
White House Chief of Staff; Bolton

Not to mention Goldman is the biggest donor to our two senators Lautenberg and Menedez....

I suspect they will continue to get sweetheart deals and while that benefits my bottomline I think it is pathetic and wrong considering the tax dollars could be used to address the complete lack of services, underperforming schools, and open air drug markets

No kidding this was going to be approved - they have already started being their own jetty south of the current one at battery park. This was started earlier this year and GS will have their own ferry.

I still believe that all the low level white collar works will be on the JC side of the Hudson and the HQ for GS will be in NY - You can't have a global business with a JC HQ address!

No matter how hard anyone wanted to fight this and didn't like the idea of million dollar abatements for billion dollar corporations, the corporations will always win and have it their own way. Its a 'given' without debate.

Goldman Sachs Gets Deal for 2nd Jersey City Tower

New York Times
By CHARLES V. BAGLI
Published: July 19, 2007

The Goldman Sachs Group received approval yesterday to build its second tower on the Jersey City waterfront, a 30-story, $560 million office building that would house employees moving across the river from New York and accommodate the future growth of the firm.

The approval came in a vote by the Municipal Council to grant a property tax break worth roughly $4 million a year for the project, which had already been approved by the planning department. Goldman said it would probably begin construction late in 2009, about the time it completes a $2.4 billion headquarters one mile to the east, at Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan.

The deal in Jersey City comes less than two years after Goldman promised to retain 9,000 employees and add 4,000 in the coming years in Manhattan, in return for one of the most generous subsidy packages in New York City ever granted by state and city officials.

The new Goldman tower in Jersey City would hold about 3,500 workers and add to that city?s rapidly growing skyline.

But it raises questions about the wisdom of granting corporations tax breaks in return for jobs. Critics of the practice contend that Goldman Sachs, one of the most profitable investment banks on Wall Street, may be unable to fulfill all its promises to New York and New Jersey.

Goldman?s first tower in Jersey City, at 30 Hudson Street, is only 60 percent full today and could accommodate 3,000 more workers.

?Goldman has perfected the art of grabbing subsidies on both sides of the river,? said Bettina Damiani, director of Good Jobs New York, a group that conducts research on economic development. ?We can only hope that elected officials can get equally good at ensuring that Goldman lives up to its job promises. Too often, taxpayers get stuck with the tab and don?t get the jobs that were promised.?

Peter Rose, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs, said the company was planning for the future and had made a substantial investment in both Lower Manhattan and Jersey City. The property tax abatement that Goldman Sachs just received in Jersey City, he said, is available to any company moving there.

?We have to look at the economics of where we put a building,? Mr. Rose said. ?We may be a profitable firm. But that doesn?t mean we don?t watch our expenses. This is a win-win for Jersey City and Goldman Sachs.?

The firm says it has 9,000 to 10,000 employees in New York and 3,662 in Jersey City.

New York City officials expressed mixed opinions. ?The great news is that Goldman Sachs is continuing to grow,? said Robert C. Lieber, president of New York City?s Economic Development Corporation. But, he said, the commitments Goldman made in New York ?have consequences if they?re not upheld.?

The tax break for Goldman provoked a lively debate yesterday at the Municipal Council?s meeting.

It was generally acknowledged that Goldman was a model corporate citizen. But the Rev. Kevin Agee, pastor of the Calvary C.M.E. Church, said it was ?morally reprehensible to allocate tax abatements to folks who are billionaires and millionaires while the poor, and even the middle class, gets shafted.?

Elnora Watson, president of the Urban League of Hudson County, said she was grateful that Goldman Sachs donated $7,500 to her group last year, but she opposed the abatement. She said the Council should work harder to ensure that jobs go to local residents, a sentiment also expressed by other speakers.

Raj Patel, who owns a travel agency in Jersey City, said that he pays full property taxes and an additional $960 a year for a special improvement district. ?These people are getting freebies,? Mr. Patel said. ?It doesn?t make sense.?

But the president of the Municipal Council, Mariano Vega Jr., said that Goldman Sachs had done a lot for Jersey City since it opened its first tower about four years ago. Aside from the jobs and tax revenues, he said, the company has contributed to programs for affordable housing, recreation and education. And he said that Jersey City needed to provide incentives for companies if it wanted to compete with Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and other locations.

The Council ultimately voted 6 to 1 in favor of the deal.

Viola Richardson, the sole council member to oppose it, said that she was not against Goldman Sachs, but that it was no longer necessary to provide incentives to get companies to move to the waterfront.

Goldman Sachs has long been a downtown stalwart. In 1999, the company bought three development sites at the former Colgate toothpaste factory in Jersey City. Five years later, it built 30 Hudson, at 42 stories the tallest building in the state, after bargaining for tax breaks worth more than $160 million.

Goldman Sachs initially planned to move equity sales and trading operations to the tower from Manhattan. But executives rebelled against the plan, and the company has been slow to fill the tower, which cost $1.3 billion to build.

A short time later, Goldman announced plans to build a 42-story headquarters on a site in Battery Park City, which would have a view of its Jersey City operations.

Grateful for the commitment downtown after the attack on the World Trade Center, state and city officials offered the company $1 billion in tax-free bonds and about $30 million in tax breaks.

But after snags in the negotiations, state and city officials enhanced their offer by providing $1.65 billion in bonds and $140 million in tax breaks and cash, as well as a sharp reduction, worth an estimated $9 million a year, in Goldman?s payments in lieu of taxes.

----------------
GOOD AS GOLDMAN
Praise, criticism tax break OK'd 6-1

Thursday, July 19, 2007
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

By a 6-1 vote, the Jersey City City Council yesterday approved a 20-year tax abatement for the 30-story office building Goldman Sachs plans to build Downtown, just north of its 30 Hudson St. tower.

Council members praised Goldman as a model corporate citizen - "head and shoulders above everybody else," according to City Council President Mariano Vega.

"We feel good about the final vote," said Dino Fusco, a Goldman Sachs managing director. "It is the right decision for Jersey City and the right decision for Goldman Sachs."

Goldman Sachs reportedly received more than $150 million in cash grants from New York City to build its new headquarters at Battery Park City, due for completion in 2009.

Given competition from the Big Apple, Fusco characterized the abatement as a "very important" factor in deciding to build in Jersey City.

Roughly a dozen members of the public spoke about the abatement.

Local businesswoman Camille Young, the owner of BaGua Juice, thanked Goldman Sachs for giving her the opportunity to open a store in the company's cafeteria at 30 Hudson St., highlighting the company's claim it has spent $11 million - 23.9 percent of its contracting budget - with local vendors.

Several other speakers, including the Rev. Kevin Agee of Calvary CME Church, said Goldman Sachs needed to do more to live up to the "good faith" agreement it signed seven years ago to hire 51 percent local residents - an issue members of Jersey City branch of the NAACP raised last week.

It is "morally reprehensible" to continue to give out abatements to companies "when the people in our city have not gotten anything," Agee said.

According to the company's latest report to the city, 8.2 percent, or 220 employees at 30 Hudson St., are locals. During the construction phase of the project, Jersey City residents averaged 10 percent of the workforce, Goldman officials have said.

Rutgers Professor Joseph Seneca, a consultant paid by Goldman, said the proposed office tower would create the equivalent of 274 one-year construction jobs and 413 permanent financial jobs for local residents.

These estimates are higher than the company's experience at 30 Hudson St. due to predicted job growth and the "increased desirability" of Jersey City as a place to live, Seneca said yesterday.

No timetable has been set for construction on the $560 million project to begin.

The city currently receives $165,000 a year in taxes for the undeveloped parcel. The first year of the abatement calls for a "payment in lieu of taxes" of $2.2 million.

Council members Michael Sottolano and Steven Fulop were absent yesterday. Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson praised Goldman as a good corporate neighbor, but gave the abatement a thumbs down because she said she no longer supports abatements along the waterfront.

I can't seem to find any, but check out what i found when i was searching for it - this gem....

http://www.jcedc.org/howwallstreetwestwaswon.html

That's actually a fairly accurate rendering of the current GS building.

Also i like the caption under the light rail picture: "...Magic Carpet made of steel"

any renderings/sketches of the proposed tower?

Saw this article on Bloomberg. The address 50 Hudson in the article points to either that parking lot across from Liberty Towers (near the Khov development) or that lot right next to the GS building (with the fence around it that i think is being used as a parking lot).

Anyway, here is the article:

By David M. Levitt
July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. plans to
build the first new office tower on the Jersey City, New Jersey,
waterfront since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a $560 million
building to rise 500 feet alongside its existing office.

The Jersey City Municipal Council is scheduled to vote
tomorrow on a $2 million a year tax incentive for Goldman, the
world's biggest securities firm, said Al Cameron, deputy director
of the city's housing, economic development and commerce
department.

``Once this project starts, it'll be watched by developers,''
said Stephen Jenco, northern New Jersey client services manager
for Grubb & Ellis Co., a commercial brokerage. ``With rents in
midtown practically triple what we see on the waterfront, it will
be interesting to see the level of demand there for back office
space or for possible relocations out of Manhattan.''

Before the terror attack and reversals in the financial
industry brought building starts to a halt, Jersey City was the
principal supplier of new offices to the New York region, with 32
towers comprising 17.2 million square feet built between 1980 and
2004. The building boom included Goldman's 30 Hudson St. office,
New Jersey's tallest skyscraper at 780 feet.

Office rents around Goldman's downtown Manhattan headquarters
average $59 a square foot and are expected to rise, while Jersey
City waterfront rents average $33, according to New York-based
broker Grubb & Ellis Co. Jersey City, a short ride from Wall
Street on the PATH commuter trains already has offices for other
banks including Merrill Lynch & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Finishing Off Tower

Jersey City officials said that Goldman is now finishing off
the interiors of the top 10 floors of the existing tower, which
were unused and left unfinished when the tower was completed in
2004. Goldman spokesman Peter Rose did not return calls seeking
confirmation.

The new Goldman building would rise at 50 Hudson St., the
second of three parcels the company owns at the former Colgate-
Palmolive soap and perfume plant on the once-industrial
waterfront.

Jersey City planners approved that plan in September. Now,
the City Council will vote on Goldman's request for a multimillion
dollar tax break, after the bank said the tower will bring the
town 3,158 construction jobs and 3,496 permanent jobs.

``Their presence in Jersey City not only attracts other
financial corporations to locate here, but also serves as an
impetus for new housing development,'' Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah
Healy, who supports the tax breaks, said in a statement.

The Jersey City buildings will be a short ferry ride across
the Hudson from Goldman's headquarters tower now rising in lower
Manhattan's Battery Park City, and due to be completed in 2009,
said Peter Rose, a company spokesman.

Rose declined to say when Goldman intends to start
construction on the tower at 50 Hudson St. The application for the
tax incentive gives a projected start date of January 2009.

Goldman has chosen to build its own buildings rather than
rent, because ``our preference is to be the sole tenant in
buildings we occupy,'' Rose said, and to control enough property
to be able to grow comfortably.

``This is a firm that had about 9,000 people'' in 1997, and
now ``has approximately 28,000 worldwide,'' he said. ``When you
grow like that, you have to think long-term in terms of your space
needs.''

Merrill Lynch, the world's third largest securities firm, has
been looking at moving some offices to the Jersey City waterfront,
when the lease on its lower Manhattan headquarters expires in
2013, people familiar with its situation have said.

Quote:

That sounds about right on - I predict that the JC side will house the staff (new tower) and a working environment for the low level workers / call centre etc. They will move out all the senior staff from NJ across to the NY side - its amazing how word gets around on construction sites if you are pricing for contracts - some of the gossip is crap, but some is interesting.

I'm not 100% sure GS owns the tower on the JC side outright.

Goldman Sachs new headquarters is going to be right on the water in Battery Park. I believe they also want to move out of some of the buildings they currently occupy and consolidate into buildings that are entirely theirs. They also have plans to create their own private ferry to bring their employees, customers, etc between the buildings across the Hudson. They want waterfront property because that makes it the easiest to transport via there ferry which I believe they are nicknaming after the canals in Venice.

Quote:

So that means only 7% of the construction force will come from JC, and only 11% of the people working in the building will be from JC? That sucks.

AND if the building will have 89% of it's staff coming in from out of town, but only has enough parking for 16% of the employees, how in the hell are these people going to get to work?

But more importantly, why don't they want us working there?

When businesses come to town and set up shop, isn't the cities' "softening" of the rules due to the company bringing jobs to residents, economic development, etc.? If we're not getting anything for this new tower but more congested public transportation, then why bend the rules for them?

Quote:

Zoning means zero if you are a 'heavy hitter' in the business world - note Macy's and fireworks.

You have the width of Hudson Street with residential towers (Liberty Towers) directly behind and to the south of GS - so zoning can easily be changed.
The Hyatt is nearby too.

Its a scam in my opinion, until I'm proven wrong - then I'll happily eat my words.

GS hasnt even filled up half of their 30 hudson st tower and they now want another one?

They are also building a brand new headquarters in Battery Park. And on top of that have a hiring freeze at least for their New York city operations. And they are now trying to convince them to build more?

The plot of land is zoned for commercial. Does zoning not matter in JC? They would be unable to build residential in a plot of land unless approved by the city - right?

Once and if they get their abatement, they are likely (in my opinion) to change the tower from office space to residential space and make a siht load of money. I believe it to be a deceptive move to claim more room for staff (employment) when more money can be made via the residential route - NYC has numerous vacant office buildings that could accommodate their 'so called' expanding staff numbers with acceptable long lease offers to business.

I'd like to see some proof that staff numbers at GS are increasing before I change my opinion.

If they get it, will they build?

Goldman Sachs wants special tax agreement for new $560M tower

Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer 07/13/2007

MAKING A CASE FOR 50 HUDSON ? Dino Fusco, director of global real estate operations for Goldman Sachs, speaks at the June 25 City Council caucus on the financial firm?s proposed office tower at 50 Hudson St. The company estimates that they will be expanding greatly over the next few years. Some are concerned that they may take too long to start building.
When the City Council convenes its meeting this Wednesday, it will consider approving a 20-year tax abatement deal for a major investment firm.

Goldman Sachs, the owner of the tallest building in the state at 30 Hudson St. - and a sponsor of various community events - would like the tax agreement for an office tower to be built at 50 Hudson St., next to their existing headquarters.

They say their company will be expanding over the next few years, and they need the extra space.

However, tax abatements have become controversial. They allow developers to make a deal with the city to pay a pre-determined annual tax fee rather than being subject to the quixotic rise and fall of regular property taxes. Some believe that the deals are too generous to the developers, and should be used only to encourage developers to build in blighted areas.

But even major developers sometimes claim they need the deals in order to make a big project financially viable, or to make it more prudent than locating elsewhere (like in New York City).

At the City Council's previous meeting on June 27, the council voted 8-0 to introduce the abatement, with an abstention by City Councilman Steven Fulop, a former Goldman Sachs employee himself.

The $560 million, 918,956 square-foot office tower will be 30 stories high with 573 parking spaces - if it is built.

Some officials believe that it's a big if, as an original construction plan for that property has been on hold since June 2000.

That year, Goldman Sachs got approval for tax abatement for a hotel/conference center at the site.

At the last council meeting, several officials tried to press Goldman Sachs on when they will build their new project, if they get the new abatement. They noted that the existing 30 Hudson St. headquarters is not fully occupied and that Goldman Sachs is currently building its new world headquarters near New York City's Battery Park.

But Goldman officials say that their company is expanding rapidly, and they will build when the market makes it feasible.

Went from 50 to 30

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The plan for the new tower went into motion last year when the City Council at its Aug. 16 meeting approved changes to the Colgate Redevelopment Plan, allowing for the construction of a 50-foot office tower by Goldman Sachs at 50 Hudson St.

The redevelopment plan also allowed for an open-air plaza with the 21,000 square feet of retail space. Previously under the plan, an atrium would have been built.

But even at that time, there were questions about Goldman Sachs seeking to build a new, taller building at a time when their 30 Hudson St. location was then filled at half-capacity.

At that meeting, Goldman Sachs executive Timor Galen said the new tower for 50 Hudson St. was necessary to redistribute the workforce between New York and New Jersey.

The Jersey City Planning Board, at its meeting on Sept. 19 of last year, approved a shorter 30-story office tower for 50 Hudson St. They also approved a public plaza between that new building and Goldman Sachs' existing 30 Hudson St. building.

Goldman will need more space

Peter Rose, spokesperson for Goldman Sachs, said last week that their proposed office tower is advance planning on the part of Goldman Sachs to prepare for future expansion.

Goldman Sachs operates offices in 46 cities in the United States and in other parts of the world.

Rose pointed out that since 1999, when shares in the company were first offered on the stock market, the firm has grown from 9,000 to 28,000 employees.

"We're very serious about preparing ahead of time," Rose said. "Over the past years, we always believe we end up needing more space sooner than later."

He also said they intend to be the sole tenants of the buildings they occupy, which is why they have reached only 65 percent occupancy at their 30 Hudson St. location.

Rose said if Goldman Sachs gets the abatement, they will do a study to find out when it will be economically feasible for them to start building. They may look six to 10 years into the future in that study.

"We do the economic analysis and we find it's very difficult to start building immediately," Rose said. But Rose noted that they are already paying taxes on the property, regardless of when they build.

According to the current abatement agreement, they pay a current tax of $165,000 annually on the undeveloped land. The new agreement calls for $2.2 million to be paid each year to the city from time of completion to the year six of the abatement. After that, the payment will increase every few years until the abatement ends.

Putting on the charm

Goldman Sachs advocated for the abatement at the council caucus last month.

Dino Fusco, director of global real estate operations for Goldman Sachs, noted that the firm has been a "good neighbor" in Jersey City with their support of various community events.

They said they established a strong presence in the city with their 30 Hudson St. building, and a new building will be necessary once 30 Hudson St. is fully occupied by - by his estimate - 2009, and the new world headquarters in New York City is completed in 2010.

"With the completion of our world headquarters building in Battery Park across the river, Jersey City is going to be more strategic for Goldman Sachs," Fusco said.

Fusco may have revealed why Goldman Sachs will probably receive the abatement, as he complimented the city's "tax enhancement" program for keeping Jersey City "competitive" with lower Manhattan.

Not everyone is convinced

City Councilman Bill Gaughan got to the point during the caucus when he asked: "How long will it take to build this building?"

An architect for Goldman Sachs said that after construction begins, it could take three years to build the tower.

Gaughan also wanted to know how many construction jobs and jobs after construction will be available for Jersey City residents.

In fact, a recently passed ordinance forces certain projects to agree to use a percentage of Jersey City residents in their construction. The Goldman Sachs project falls under this agreement.

A consultant for Goldman Sachs, Rutgers University professor Joseph Seneca, saidd the project will produce 274 construction jobs for Jersey City residents. There will be 3,811 jobs during construction.

He said that when the building is finished, 413 of Goldman Sachs' 3,496 permanent jobs at 50 Hudson St. will be local residents.

Last week, City Councilman Steven Fulop, who represents the Downtown area of the city where the 50 Hudson St. site is located, said the abatement should have had a stipulation that requires Goldman Sachs and other developers to build once they receive the abatement.

Fulop said that some developers get an abatement for a project, then stall on development for years or sell the property for a higher price than purchased originally.

"The reality is, the developers should be building," Fulop said. "Instead, the city is in the business of giving abatements that increases value of the property, but [do] not actually see the development taking place."

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com